Page 200 of The Circle of Exile
“Hmm…” Amaal sucked on her kulfi and did not say anything else. They strolled in silence.
“Amaal?” Samar’s holler brought them up short. They turned in unison, only to find him on the kitchen door.
“Are you ready to go?”
She frowned. “I am staying here tonight.”
Samar frowned back. He stepped through the door and strode towards them. His eyes came to her and Iram stepped away — “You both talk. I’ll head back inside.”
She began to walk back to the kitchen door. It was a long way up and the wind was cold as well as heavy, muffling the sounds of the world. Iram was at the threshold when Amaal’s holler made her stop.
“Iram! I am not staying here.”
She smiled to herself, stepped inside the kitchen and closed the door.
38. It is only winners that always win, not heroes…
It is only winners that always win, not heroes, child.Yamma had told this to her once, or maybe more than once. She couldn’t remember the exact events or occasions. But she remembered those words. Like she remembered her father’s words.
Iram smiled to herself. Only a year ago, she hadn’t been able to call Abba her father. Even to herself. How time turned. How it tore open wounds. And how it sutured them back too. She stepped inside their dim bedroom and tiptoed towards the bed. After Samar and Amaal had left, Atharva had taken Yathaarth to bathe him and do his bedtime. She checked — Junior Janab was sound asleep in his cot. Senior Janab… her ears perked up at the click of the bathroom door.
“Daniyal went to sleep?” Atharva asked, rubbing his towel over his head.
“Yes. He got bored after everybody left.Noora is also not here.”
“Life has been merciful this past week,” he grunted, opening the balcony and hanging his towel out to dry.
“It will be dew all over by 4 in the morning. How will your towel dry?”
“It will remain wet inside too.” Atharva shut it, pushing the sleeves of his sweatshirt to his elbows as he went around the room in the dim light, plugging on the charger of his iPad, grabbing the extra thick duvet that they stored in a spare trunk to keep their bed smooth all day, bending down to check the heater.
“Noora is coming back on Wednesday, by the way.”
“Don’t remind me.”
Iram grinned — “You have said his name more times than all of us put together. Admit it, you miss him.”
“I wish he has more bank work. And stays in Srinagar forever.”
She padded to him and caught his shoulders just as he rose to his feet, “Do you have some time to spare, Janab?”
Atharva turned, brows pinched together.
“There is something I want to show you.”
“What?”
“You will have to come with me.”
“Arth is asleep.”
“We will take his baby monitor.”
A yawn tore through his mouth and he held it back bravely.
“What is it, Iram?”
She did not want to reveal it. She wanted to show him. How he did not know yet was beyond her. Once upon a time, he had always kept apprised of such events.
